City Mexican's sleek interior sets it apart from most area Mexican restaurants. / Bruce E. Stidham/For the News-Leader

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When reader Debbie Dunn moved to the Ozarks from Colorado, she immediately noticed the abundance of chain restaurants. For her, these aren’t appealing, as she’s always on the hunt for fresh, local flavors. City Mexican Cuisine, though, is quite different from other Mexican restaurants around, and she’s happy to support a local business.

Debbie's Take

“This is the first Mexican restaurant we found to be happy about,” she says. Debbie wonders why other Ozarkers haven’t found this hidden gem: “They never seem that busy,” she says.

We start our meal with the chips and salsa we’d expect to find at any Mexican restaurant. On Debbie’s suggestion, we add queso dip ($7). Our server asks us if we’d like mild, medium or spicy queso. Without missing a beat, Debbie opts for spicy. “I like it super spicy,” she says. Instead of the typical tortilla chips, our queso comes with crispy pieces of fried flour tortillas. “Aren’t these awesome?” Debbie says of the chips. Debbie also enjoys that the queso is real cheese, not some weird cheese product. “I like that the queso is really cheesy — it’s real cheese.” We’re loading up on chips, salsa and queso, but for Debbie, this is all par for the course. “At a true Mexican place, you’re full before you get your meal,” she jokes.

Debbie chooses the Carnitas Tacos with mango salsa ($10), based on our server’s recommendation. She wants to try something a little different, and he says that’s the way to go. The tacos come sprinkled with cilantro. “That was a good choice,” she says. “How lucky am I?” The tender carnitas pairs well with the sweet salsa, and she loves that the carnitas has a bit of a crispy edge to it, too. The “good blend” of flavors is all put together with a soft corn tortilla, which she says adds to the dish as well.

Katie's Take

I’m not a native Ozarker, but I’ve come to really enjoy our restaurants, and I happen to disagree with Debbie. I think we have amazing restaurants and plenty of hidden gems. The key is knowing where to look. Like Debbie, I think chains are boring and am passionate about the fact that Springfieldians should find local restaurants, or, at minimum, a regional chain to fill their bellies. We have ample choices for every palate. Can you tell I’m passionate about this? Get out of your chain restaurant box. You’ll thank me later. And when you do, make sure to shoot us an email to recommend the restaurant you found and fell in love with.

City Mexican is certainly different from the typical Springfield Mexican restaurant. You know what I’m talking about. There’s about a dozen of them, and though they all seem to have different owners, they have the same menu. It’s almost as if there’s a secret meeting of Springfield Mexican restaurants where owners decide what we like. Well, if there is such a meeting, I’d like an invitation to the next one, because we Springfieldians can handle change, and we want fresh, authentic flavors. City Mexican has definitely gotten that memo. They’ve created a menu that features Mexican cuisine from different regions, with most of the dishes being named after a Mexican city. In addition, the sleek interior — perfect for a date night — is nothing like the sombrero-wearing dude murals I’m used to seeing all over town.

I’m pleased that we get to decide the spiciness level on our queso dip. I’ve not seen that at other Mexican restaurants, and I’m certainly fine with taking the heat up a notch. The spicier, the better. The best part about the cheese dip is easily the fried flour tortilla strips it comes with. I’m sure this recipe isn’t too complicated, but it definitely adds to the creamy queso. This is a must for the strips alone.

For my dish, I opt for the Apatzingan ($14), which is grilled chicken and flank steak, served with red peppers and topped with guacamole, black beans and sour cream. I opt for the poblano blend instead of the poblano rice. I’ve had this dish before, and I’m happy to be able to chat about it. It’s a bit like fajitas, if fajitas had a makeover that only included red bell peppers and got rid of the carb-laden tortillas. The red peppers add a slight crunch, and there is so much meat. I enjoy pouring a little bit of our spicy queso over the dish and eating it all with the tortilla strips. There’s no tortillas, but I don’t need them when I’m enjoying such flavorful meat. The plate is huge, too, and it’s not overloaded with the veggies. The meat is the definite star of the dish.

My poblano blend goes well with the entree. It’s slightly spicy, and I also enjoy the crispy peppers in the creamy sauce. Debbie’s rice tastes great, too. Next time, I’ll have a harder time deciding between the blend and the rice.

The Dish, the Restaurant

City Mexican co-owners Scott Miller and Raul Gutierrez are going into their third year of business and are pleased with the restaurant’s continued growth. Miller says the big draw is their diverse, authentic menu and focus on food presentation and how flavors complement each other. In addition, the duo uses authentic meats from butchers. “We wanted to break the stereotype of Mexican dining in Springfield,” Miller says. Gutierrez uses his and his mom’s recipes, and the duo spends time taste testing before adding items. The difference is noticeable. “We’re different through our unique recipes, the presentation of our plates and our atmosphere,” Miller says.

Gutierrez is also the mastermind behind the flour tortilla strips served with the queso. “He decided it was unique and gave the flavor he was trying to achieve,” Miller says. The queso is also Gutierrez’s recipe. City Mexican also makes all its salsas in house.

The carnitas in the taco are a traditional pork carnitas in a lightly seared and fried taco shell. Gutierrez also puts a plantain chip in the carnitas tacos. “They’re very unique to Springfield,” Miller says.

The Apatzingan is the perfect low-carb dish, Miller explains. It was a hit during taste testings, and guests continue to crave its flavors. And why just the red pepper? “We don’t look at ingredients as individuals,” he says. “We look at how they accent the whole dish. When that dish is prepared in that entirety, it’s the combination that makes us stand out.”

The poblano blend is another Gutierrez creation for those who might not be fans of refried beans. Onion and poblano peppers give it a crunch and a kick, and the sweet cream sauce cools it down.

Miller says he’s pleased with how the restaurant has been received. “Springfield has definitely blessed us,” he says. “We hope to continue to grow.”